270 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



FEB. 21, 1841. 



ANn HORTICULTURAL REOISTER. 



BoaTON, Wednesday, Feb. 24, 1841. 



HOWARD'S PLOUGH. 



We furnish today a cut nf this viiluable im[ilement. 

 We believe there is none better than this. A |iremium 

 was awarded 10 the manufhcturer last autunnn at Wor- 

 cester, by the Massachusetts Society for the Promotion 

 of Agriculture. Our name is appended to the report of 

 the committee whicli made the award ; and though we 

 then most unhesitatin^rjy juined in the awarding of the 

 larger premium lo Messrs I'routy & Meais, for the best 

 plough for laying the furroiu flat, (that quality being the 

 one for which the premium was ofl'ered,) yet we believ- 

 ed then that for strenglh, ease ol drafi, excellence of 

 work, combining (accordintr to the setting of the cutter) 

 both the flat and the lapping furrow, and for its adapta- 

 tion to a// the difl'erent. soils upo7i afarjn,lhis plough 

 has no superior. 



SIXTH AGRICULTURAL MEETING AT THE 

 STATE HOUSE. 

 Live Stock being again up for consideration, Mr Col- 

 man remarked, that as oxen and cows had been the 

 subject nf the principal remarks on former occasions, he 

 would dr.tw attention to horses, sheep and swine. 



The improvements in the breeds of swine wilhin the 

 last forty years, he said, had been immense. A packer 

 of pork, twenty years jigo, said that the introduction of 

 the small-boned breeiJIt had been xyorth hundreds of 

 thousands of dollars to Massachusetts. He knows the 

 history of the Byfield breed. An uncle of his residing 

 in Byfield, was accustomed to do marketing in Newbury- 

 port, where, about the year 1790, he foundan old wo- 

 man with two small pigs for sale ; these he boughl — 

 took them home ; and irom these the breed was formed. 

 They may have been from the China hog, for the ships 

 of the place were often bringing pigs from foreign ports 

 We have the Bedford breed, from the Duke of Bedford' 

 who sent out some as a present to Gen. Washington, 

 but which were kept back for his own us ; by the agent 

 employed lo make the present. 



Capt. Mackay, of Boston, made selection of some 

 good swine in England, which he brought to this vicin- 

 iiy, where they or a cross of them wiih our swine, bear 

 his name. — There is the Moo» breed of which he knows 

 not the history, nor the import of the name. 



Berkshires were brought to the neighborliood of Al- 

 bany about eight years ago. There has been a more re- 

 cent importation to New Bedford. Mr Gushing, of Wa- 



tertown, now has a fine boar of this la.st importation. 



Some doubts are entertained as to the superior worth of 

 the pure breed. As to their beauty of form and their 

 thrift no doubts can exist. The hogs in the streets ol 

 Albany all look well. Some maintain thai the pure 

 bloods do not cut up well ; ihat ihe pork is not as thick 

 as would be expected from the appearance of the living 

 animal. Mr Phinney, of Lexington, has crossed the 

 Berkshire and Mackay, the Berkshire and Moco, and 

 also the three kinds; his hogs are admirable, and so are 

 Mr Cushing's. In the neighborhood of Boston, sum 

 iner feed is so costly, that we cannot afford to raise pigs ; 

 but we can make pork. When pork is 6 cents per lb., 

 it will pay 70 cents per bushel for corn, if turned into 

 pork — so his experience teaches. Each hog if well sup- 

 plied with material, will make ten loads of manure per 

 year. 



Gen. Low, of Boxford, keeps a few sheep. Though 

 we cannot profitably keep many in Essex county, yet 



he thinks it good economy to have a few on the farm ; 



his are natives ; they lamb early, and the lambs at four 

 months old will bring Irom $3 .'50 lo §;4 per head. If 

 well littered, sheep will make much and good manure. 

 Sheep will kill out white weed from the pasture. Well 

 fettered, they give him no trouble. 



Col, Jatpies gave us the points of a good horse. VVe 

 were unnble to follow him with accuiacy, and shall ask 

 of him the favor to pen his own rt marks fur us. They 

 are too important to be lost, and too important lo be mu- 

 tilated by an imperfect repnrl. 



Cousin Tim, when in the neighborly rouiine he must 

 raise a bull, retains the calf which the butcher would 

 not take as a gift ; raises him ; and Jonathan's, Tom's 

 and Tim's cows are all served by this miserable runt, 

 and he becocnes the sire of the next generation of cows 

 in ihe neighborhood. Thus loo many of our farmers 

 breed. 



So far as relates to the Berkshire swine, he has been 

 merely a looker-on. Has received intimations that they 

 do not open well. (Here Mr French, of Braintree, in 

 quired whether any pure Berkshire had ever been 

 slaughtered in this neighborhood ?) Col. J. did not 

 know ; he had nothing on the subject but hearsay. 



No writer on the subject of breeding in and in had 

 ever taken ground that was precisely in accordance with 

 his experience. He has put the father on the daughter, 

 and also has bred from brother and sister. His progeny 

 has been vigorous and fine. In 1816 or '17, the Fill pail 

 breed was put on Breed's Island, and there they have 

 been breeding for more than twenty years, without a 

 drop of blood from any other race, and yet the calves 

 are healthy and vigorous, and the whole stock is improv- 

 ing. He is not prepared lo discufs this subject thor- 

 oughly. By breeding pigs from brother and sister, you 

 are very liable to get in the same litter every variety of 

 form. The practice is to be avoided. Swine should be 

 crossed ; you may as well talk of a breed of earthen jugs 

 as a breed of swine: they may be moulded to your taste. 

 The Saxony sheep are well suited lo the warmer cli- 

 mate of the south and west ; but for New England, the 

 South Downs are to be preferred. He has a flock, very 

 fine; they give him no trouble ; are very easy to take 

 on flesh ; and yield about four lbs. of wool each. 



Mr French inquired if he could tell the average yearly 

 quantity of milk from a cow of his Cream Pot breed ? 



Col. J. replied that his calves usually take the milk 

 for 3 or 4 months, and that he has not data from which 

 he can fully answer the inquiry. The greatest qu.intily 

 from a cow in one day ivas 'Jl quarls. His good cows 

 when on grass, will not average more than 10 or 17 qts. 

 At this season of the year, those that calved in Decem- 

 ber and are fed on hay and one half bush.'l of sugar 

 beets, give 12 quarts. 



Mr Cole, Edifor of Ihp Yankee Farmer, wished to 

 notice two principles of breeding. One, thai like pro- 

 duces like, both with animals and vegelaliles. Where 

 two kinds mix, it takes a considerable lime for their pe- 

 culiar propertiestobccorne thoroughly blended and fixed. 

 Longer with animals perhaps than vegetables; for im- 

 agination may in ihe falter case have an influence. He 

 cited an instance in which it is supposed that the look- 

 ing upon an ox of peculiar color, by a cow, gave the 

 same color lo her calf — Which sex has most power in 

 giving character to the offspring ? It is often said that 

 the male has, but he believes that it is the parent which 

 has the purest blood ; our bulls are often more thorough 

 bred than the cows, and when this is the case, the quali- 

 ties of the bull will predominate in the calf But ii 

 Arabia, where they pay much attention to the blood of 

 the mare, the coll is like ihe mother. 



Which sex fashions Ihe ,ex of Ihe oflrspring.' Experi 



ments in France have shown that the mc st vigorous pa- 

 rent gives the sex. Where the ewes are youn^ and 

 weak, while the ram is vigorous, the lambs will be most- 

 ly males. But where the ewes are strong and vigorous, 

 while the ram is young or feeble, the majority of the 

 lambs will be females. Parents produce their peculiari- 

 ties in the opposite sex. Sons are like the mother — 

 daughters resemble more the father. He thinks this is 

 seen in the human race. 



In crosses, the male should be smaller than the female. 

 If the male be larger, the female will sutler, and the 

 off'spring is likely to be large, and to lack nourishment. 

 Mr Collins, in producing the improved Durham, reduc- 

 ed the large Teeswater by taking a smaller bull. 



Mr Weld, of Sturbridge, slated that when a farmer 

 asks what slock is best, he should take into account the 

 character of his farm. If the pasturing be poor, sheep 

 will be good stock. He keeps a flock of mixed breed, 

 3-4 or 7 8 Merino; winters on lowland hay, if the 

 ground is covered with snow ; but if Ihe winter is open, 

 gives either heller hay or some grain. Gets from each 

 3 to 3 1-2 lbs. of wool, and loses very few lambs. Me- 

 rinos or mixed a/e the best where wool is the principal 

 object. 



Let a man think of .the quality r<f his farm when he 

 would judge what breed of cattle is best. Our native 

 stock is as good as any for most farms ; though this 

 stock should be improved. Select Ihe best calves for 

 raising. The best have much activity. Ifone is dump- 

 ish he is not fit to raise. You may not be able at first 

 to judge what a calf will be, but let it suck a month, and 

 you can tell something about it. He gives his calves 

 new milk, and thinks it best to have them gel a wood 

 growth the first year. 



Cid. Jaques has tried various experiments for ascer- 

 taining whether the inferences from the experiments ia 

 France, stated by Mr Cole, are correct ; but has never 

 been able to find anything that enables him to antici- 

 pate that the offspring is in any given case more likel; 

 tj be of one sex than the other. 



LARGE HOGS. 



Weight of 15 Berkshire and Mackay h' gs, sent to 

 market 22d February, 1841 :— 738 lbs. ; 605, 579, 574, 

 556, 528, 523, 517, 503,501,487, 480,476, 441, 400— ag- 

 gregate weight, 7958 lbs.; average weight, 530 1.2 lbs. 



Mr Putnam— Dear Sir — Above you have the weight 

 of a sample of my BerkshiiC and Mackay pigs. Some 

 of those weighing over 500 lbs. are but 15 munihs old. 

 Yours, very truly, 



22d Feb. 1841. E. PHINNEV. 



[We are reluctant to add a bristle's weight to the bur- 

 then of labors that rests upon the shoulders of the clerk 

 of the courts in Middlesex ; but if Mr Phinney can f"ivi>r 

 us with a statement of the breed, cross, age and keep of 

 the several pigs in this sample, he may lead us and the 

 public to some valuable inferences. — Ed.] 



Large Ear of Corn — There has been sent us, by Dr. 

 Blanden, of Columbia, S. C, an ear of corn, (the Horse 

 Tooth, we believe,) wliich, though very dry, weighs 1 

 lb. and 4 oz. ; is 10 inches long, 2 3-4 in thickness, has 

 26 rows, and 5.5 kernels in a row — 1430 kernels. 



We will thank " A Plain Farmer," to make himself 

 known to us. We want lo show him some silken chains 

 of argument that have been spun and sent us, for his and 

 our entanglement. 



Dr. C. 'V. Jackson is expected to address the farmers 

 at ihe State House tomorrow evening, on " Soils and 

 Manures." 



^iJ' Erratum. — On Ihe first page of this day's paper, 

 (article " Agricultural Chemistry, ") third column, 12lh 

 line from bottom, after ihe word " vegelalion," the par- 

 agraph should read as follows: — thus it is thought that 



